After a wonderful breakfast with even more choices than at Hotel Martha, we picked up our lunch packet. All through the trip, the lunch packets consisted of 2 white Brötchen (rolls) with sliced cheese or cold cuts, a piece of fruit (apple or pear), often some vegetables such as cucumber sticks or a tomato, and sometimes a packaged sweet like a Hanuta (hazelnut creme and wafers). The lunch was more than enough food, considering the generous breakfast, but it would have been even better if we could have instead chosen from the breakfast items, which included whole wheat rolls and bread, amazing cheeses, quark, more varied fruit options, and even cake.
By 8:30 we met in the lobby with our lunches, hiking poles, and rain gear. Also, because we're crossing the border to the Czech Republic today, we all had our passports. Our guide Daphna was running late because she had to park in the approved lot, which was a bit of a walk. But finally we were off, and the first short walk is back to the S-Bahn. We rode to Schöna (memories of yesterday) and the doors opened this time! Next, we walked to the ferry and crossed the Elbe river to Hrensko on the Czech side. Here's a (cropped) photo from the Hrensko Wikipedia page (The town -- mostly its surroundings -- was featured in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe).
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| Hrensko |
After leaving the ferry, we walked along the road, past the market stalls of cheap consumer goods, and we were soon in the countryside. We turned off the road onto a trail uphill through through a scrubby area of small beech trees that had once been a forest. Our guide explained that before 2022, this area was a dense spruce forest that had been planted for the valuable wood. However, because of a catastrophic forest fire in August 2022, the spruce, many of them already damaged by the bark beetle, burned to the ground. Now, nature was returning the area to the original ecosystem, a mixed forest of beeches and some other deciduous trees. Much of this information is also on the
Wikipedia page (the slightly less detailed English version is
here). Our guide, who studied ecology at the university, pointed out interesting details such as a Rotkehlchen (
Erithacus rubecula) on a branch, clearly showing that nature is recovering. Here's a photo from Wikipedia, which also explains that this is a protected bird in Germany.
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| Rotkehlchen |
Surrounded by the fresh green of the young beeches, we continued uphill and uphill until we finally arrived at the Prebischtor. The Prebischtor is a sizable stone arch, and one of the top hiking destinations in the Sächsische Schweiz, with a great restaurant right next to it. The contrast with US hiking destination is striking. In the US, it's very rare to walk up to a famous hiking destination, like Arches National Part in Utah, and find a restaurant. In Europe, there's usually a restaurant where you can relax, have lunch or coffee and cake, and recover from the climb before the hike down. Here is a photo of Prebischtor from Wikipedia. Taking good pictures was difficult because it rained so much.
The final ascent to the restaurant (and the best views) was steep, but we were rewarded with a large warm room with a wood fired stove and everyone was eager to order lunch. The menu was limited, but everyone found something delicious to eat or drink. Renate had a Germknödel (dumpling) with blueberries. James, who was starting to come down with a cold, had Gulaschsuppe (soup).
After a well deserved rest, we hiked down a longer way through more heavily forested areas. The plan was to return to the ferry by bus. We managed to arrive at at the bus stop in plenty of time for the 16:05 bus. Except that the bus didn't show up. Meanwhile, it got colder and wetter, and everyone got just a tad annoyed. Why didn't we just walk to the ferry (too far). Why is the bus not coming (who knows)? Even Daphna was getting a bit nervous and exploring options to get us to the ferry by taxi -- but that would also have taken too long.
Finally, at 17:05, the bus arrived, and we found out that the bus was now on the winter schedule, which does not include the 16:05 run. The driver made a special effort to get us to the ferry in time for the crossing. The ferry captain wasn't so pleased, he had to rush to get us across to the S-Bahn. But it all worked out, the train doors opened in Krippen, and we enjoyed a welcome hot shower and a special dinner in the Hotel Erbgericht restaurant! We could order a main dish and either a salad/appetizer or a dessert -- and today dessert was high on most people's list.
